Consumers think drinks don’t count

A recent report examining what parents of young children and teenagers think about drinks reveals parents do not count drinks as part of their children’s daily food consumption. According to the report, parents and teenagers share a number of similar concerns but have very different purchasing patterns in terms of where they bought drinks, what drinks they bought, and what influenced them in making these decisions.

“This research clearly shows that we as consumers have a bit of a blind spot about the contribution of liquids to our daily calorie intake. Many soft drinks on the market contain a lot of ‘added’ sugars and few nutrients for example, sweetened fruit juice drinks and fizzy soft drinks,” said Dr. Cliodhna Foley-Nolan, Director, Human Health and Nutrition at safefood, which commissioned the report. “Water, milk and pure, unsweetened fruit juice drinks are the healthiest drink options and any other drink should be seen as a ‘treat’.”

A common dilemma expressed by those surveyed for the report was that parental control over food intake is somewhat lost as children reach a certain age.Research indicates that teenagers are influenced by image, advertising and cost when choosing their drinks. The power of brand advertising and celebrity endorsement of certain drinks were seen as major reasons why young people choose certain drinks. Parents expressed the belief that the marketing and pack formats of certain drinks were attractive to children and that these factors encouraged their children to consume these drinks.

“Both parents and teenagers indicated that mindless consumption plays a huge role in what they eat and drink”, continued Dr. Foley-Nolan. “Teenagers said they always needed ‘a drink’ while they were hanging out, watching television or socialising with one another. It also emerged that the consumption of many drinks was down to habit and what children/teenagers were used to. Many parents said they tried to reduce the number of fizzy drinks being purchased and were quite successful at doing this. When they made positive changes to the type of drinks consumed, despite some initial resistance, their children adapted and got used to it quite easily” she added.

“We know from dietary intake research who consumes what type of drinks. This research reveals that parents feel that a sugary drink is more favourable than a sugary food as a treat and both, parents and teenagers, seem to ignore the significant calorie counts of many of the drinks consumed in our schools and homes”, said Dr. Foley-Nolan. “It also highlights the challenges faced by parents when purchasing soft drinks for their children and the influence of advertising on their purchasing habits”, she added.

View summary and download full report

Multivitamins & Birth Weight Study

Everyone knows that taking a good daily multivitamin is beneficial to our health, right? Well, if not, we’ll save that for another day. Here’s another story in the expanding knowledge base regarding the health benefits of multivitamins.

This interesting study published in the New England Journal of Medicine details an experiment where the researchers reported multivitamin supplementation in Tanzanian women helped reduce incidence of low birth weight, especially relative to gestational age.

Based on the potential role of micronutrient deficiencies in prematurity, infant mortality and low birth weight, researchers randomly assigned 8,468 pregnant, HIV-free women (gestational age of fetus, 12 to 27 weeks) to receive daily multivitamins (including multiples of the recommended dietary allowance) or placebo; all participants also received prenatal supplemental iron and folic acid.

Incidence of low birth weight (defined as less than 2,500 g) was 7.8 percent in the vitamin group, compared to 9.4 percent in the placebo group. Supplementation reduced both the risk of a birth size that was small for gestational age and the risk of maternal anemia, although the differences were modest. Considering these results, they suggested multivitamins should be considered for all pregnant women in developing countries.

We have to believe that research such as this continues to underscore the benefits of taking a good daily multivitamin right here at home. And it’s safe to assume that more studies will continue to be performed and released that further support the need for filling your nutritional gaps. If you’re still not one of the millions of Americans who don’t take a good multi-vitamin like CorePlex everyday, you’re missing out (literally). And as the study shows, adding iron to that multivitamin is very important for pregnant women (check out CorePlex with Iron).